Quit Your Wine-ing! Part 2

On Part 1 of the blog, Mom, Chris, and I arrived in San Francisco, ready to start our celebration of her upcoming 70th birthday!  

Mom and I posing with the lobby decorations at the Marriott Marquis

Unsurprisingly, I didn't sleep well our first night on the trip, even though our room at the Marriott Marquis was comfy, and the noise was minimal (our hotel was huge and hosted several events while we were there, including a formal ball on Saturday night - I heard everyone coming back to their rooms around 1am when it closed up shop).  Once Chris was also awake, the two of us headed out to Mazarine Coffee for caffeine options (amazing coffee, just meh chai), then to Sears Fine Food, close to Union Square, for breakfast.  

One of the many painted hearts around the city

Sears is a San Francisco institution, having been open since 1938, and the decorations on the walls reflect that:

Original FDR campaign and Louis/Schmeling fight posters

While I ordered the blueberry pancakes, Chris went for the house special - the world famous 18 tiny Swedish pancakes with lingonberry jam and butter.  He didn't finish all 18 (we're pretty sure he handled 11 or 12, and I helped with one), but he had a great time trying - both of our pancake options were solid.

Full of breakfast carbs (one of my favorite kinds, along with lunch carbs, dinner carbs, and snacky carbs), we rolled down the hill, through Union Square, and back to our hotel.  

The Marquis is the tallest building in the shot,

but I love this green one off to the right (also a hotel).

The architecture here is so great.

Sunrise from our windows - that's the St. Patrick Church...

...and the cube in the left corner is this structure, the Contemporary Jewish Museum.

We collected Mom, headed downstairs, then she and I waited in the hotel lobby while Chris secured the rental car (there's a Hertz desk inside the Marquis, which was remarkably convenient).  With everything packed into our new Hyundai Tucson, it was time to head to wine country!

Not too much luggage for three people on a five day trip, really

(particularly when one item is a box for wine we planned to buy).

Since Chris was driving and Google was navigating, I had the opportunity to take some shots of the journey, which included heading straight over the Golden Gate Bridge!

I see it!

Starting across...

The northern brace with the Marin headlands

Some of the houseboats of Sausalito - we'd visit there on the way back

Traffic was pretty quiet, and the weather was lovely, so we made good time; we arrived in Napa at lunchtime and parked near the Oxbow Public Market, then headed inside to find food.  My request was to grab a seat at the Hog Island Oyster Company, and since we were on the early side, we were able to do so; we've tried for years to eat at Hog Island's various locations, but the lines have always been way too long.  Today, though, fortune smiled upon us and so did our waiter, bringing us a delicious array of raw and cooked bivalves.

Ready for lunch!

It was chilly on the patio, but the heaters kept us nice and toasty

Noms!

Post-oyster o'clock, Mom and I headed around the corner for a tuna salad sandwich (her) and tomato soup with grilled cheese (me) at the Model Bakery, while Chris indulged in a smoked salmon offering at Loveski Deli.  Full of food, it was time to wander a bit, toward downtown Napa, to see what we could find.  We shopped in a few of the local boutiques and did some wine tasting, first at Mia Carta and then at Mayacamas.

Downtown Napa from the Mia Carta tasting room

Mom with two of the local buskers, in front of the original Napa library building

and current home of the Historical Society

Enjoying our samples at Mayacamas

As we finished our last tasting, I received a text with check-in instructions for our lodging for the next two nights, the Old World Inn.  We'd reserved the Crush Pad Suite within the Merlot House at the Inn, and it worked out really well; our space had separate bedrooms each with a queen bed and one shared bathroom for the three of us.  The Inn provided us a delicious breakfast each day, and it was easily walkable to the downtown area; it was only a short drive from the wineries in the area, too, as we'd find out the next day.

With a few hours to go until dinner, we unpacked and explored the inn.  Although a few more guests showed up later, we pretty much had things to ourselves, and although there was road noise during the day, it was remarkably quiet at night.

Around 6:45, we headed back downtown (walking through a cute neighborhood full of bungalows and Victorians, all lit up with holiday decorations) and to our dinner destination, Downtown Joe's.  Joe's was just okay; the location was neat - it's housed in an 1800's brewery - but the food and beer were just mediocre.  I had picked Joe's so we had a more casual, less costly option on the trip, and while it was both of those things, we probably wouldn't go back in the future, even though the staff was lovely and extremely helpful.

The portions were huge, though, and it was good to have a stroll in the evening chill to walk things off before heading to bed at the Inn.  Tomorrow, we'd head into the valley to drink amazing wine!

The Inn, all lit up in its holiday finest

Later!

Amy